Erin Biba has had enough with your Newfangled Media Algorithms

I’m only getting paid two and a half cents per click on this story. That’s more than what 99.9% of contributors on Medium get paid. I have a $60,000 graduate journalism degree from Medill, nearly a decade of writing experience, and, let’s be honest, I’m super smart and seriously good at what I do. I can write and report a kickass story with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back. But the algorithm that decides how much I get paid for all that badass-ness doesn’t put any value on how good I am. It cares not at all how well written this story is or how much experience I have. All that’s important is how many times you guys click.

I want to make a living from my writing, but the paid-by-clicks model is an absolute nightmare scenario to me. I’d rather continue forever as a technical writer for a day job, than have to train myself to value everything I write by how likely it will become people’s share of the day.